My second recipe for my egg-based desserts project was an internet-famous phenomenon: the Richard Sax Chocolate Cloud Cake. This cake has been featured on many cooking and baking blogs, as well as in one of my favorite baking books, Genius Desserts. The recipe is well-known because it contains many of the same ingredients as a basic flourless chocolate cake (a dessert I’ve made many times). But this particular cake comes out of the oven with a magically huge, cloud-like rise due to the quantity of eggs. Sax’s method is unique because he divides the 6 required eggs into 2 whole and 4 separated, so that you mix 2 whole eggs and 4 yolks together with the chocolate and sugar, and later fold in 4 whipped egg whites. Unlike in a Soufflé, you beat these egg whites until they reach soft and glossy (rather than stiff) peaks. This makes for a beautiful, smooth-textured batter that looks amazing both before and after baking.
Here is a link to the recipe: https://food52.com/recipes/78350-richard-sax-s-chocolate-cloud-cake
And here are some photos of the baking process:
I decided to use two different types of chocolate — semisweet and bittersweet — to make a deeper chocolate flavor. Chopping it up coarsely makes it easier to melt over the stove.
Putting aside two out of the six eggs, and then separating the remaining four into yolks and whites.
The dense chocolate, egg yolk, and sugar mixture before the addition of the egg whites.
An important technique I learned through this recipe is to stir a bit of the whipped egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it up and make it less dense before adding the rest of the whites. This makes the folding process easier because the denser mixture is already prepped to take in the lighter, and it is easier to combine them without taking the all-important air out of the egg whites. I think this technique made for a much better rise on this cake than what I got on the Soufflé recipe.
Folding the egg whites into the chocolate to make a smooth and aerated mixture.
And here is the final product!
The cake came out incredibly light and puffy, looking exactly like a cloud and living up to its name. The top cracked slightly, demonstrating the different textures on the inside and outside of the cake. When we cut into it, it was super aerated and it was obvious that my folding technique worked really well to keep all of the whipped air in the batter. The texture fantastic and the chocolate flavor was rich, sweet, and complex. I served it with lightly sweetened vanilla whipped cream, which added another textural element and helped cut through the deep chocolate taste.
Here’s what some of my friends had to say:
“It’s velvety but light” – Jen
“It’s moist, melts in your mouth, but still rich” – Meg
“It tastes like a cloud!” – Anya (without knowing the name of the cake!)
“It’s very dark chocolatey, rich chocolate flavor” – Heather
“I like how airy it is – it dissolves on your tongue and is very easy to eat” – Camille
Needless to say, we all had seconds (except for Maya, who doesn’t like chocolate!). It was one of the best desserts I’ve ever made!
